Though we are limited beings with little knowledge, we are proud beings with little humility. When Jesus taught us to pray, he taught us to bring our petitions before the Lord, to bring to him all our cares, all our burdens, all our sorrows. We can and should plead our case before the Lord, for…
Canadian Free Stuff Fridays: Book Giveaway!
One of the privileges we have as Christians is the privilege of caring for one another—of blessing one another in our difficulties and comforting one another in our sorrows. In such “one another” ministry we represent God and extend love and mercy on his behalf. This is a precious and sacred ministry that falls to…
The pictures quickly made their way around the world—pictures of an aircraft lying upside down in the snow just beyond runway 23 at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport. On February 17, Delta flight 4819 landed hard, shearing off the right wing and flipping over before finally sliding to a stop. Remarkably, despite the crash and subsequent…
Every now and again I like to share an example of a pastoral prayer from Grace Fellowship Church. I do this because there are few examples of pastoral prayers online and I thought these may serve to inspire themes, passages, or ideas as other pastors and elders prepare to lead their churches in prayer. Please…
Free Stuff Fridays: Marriage Getaway! #Sponsored
I was intrigued by Aaron Renn’s recent article The Maturation of New Calvinism. His thesis is that “New Calvinism has shifted from an ‘All-Star team’ model designed to exert influence over the broader evangelical world to a post-superstar model that primarily serves its own community. This represents the maturity of the movement, perhaps putting it…
The relationship of the Christian to the political process is one of those issues that arises time and again and cycle after cycle. It is one of those issues that often generates more heat than light and that brings about more division than unity. Yet I would like to think we can agree that there…
The French language has an endearing little phrase that could almost have been drawn from the Bible’s wisdom literature. “Plus ça change,” they say, “plus c’est la même chose.” The more things change, the more they stay the same. Though I live in the 21st century, I read in the 19th, which is to say,…
At times we all live burdened lives, weighed down by the cares and concerns, the trials and traumas that inevitably accompany life in this world. And while we sometimes feel crushed by life’s heaviest burdens—the death of a loved one, the rebellion of a child, the onset of a chronic illness—we can also sometimes stagger…
There are some lyrics we all especially treasure, certain lines that settle in especially near to our hearts. Personally, I often find myself pondering the words that begin CityAlight’s “In the Valley (Bless the Lord).” “When the path that I feared / Is the way He has set / And I long to give in…
A couple of months ago, I wrote an article titled “Trump, Trudeau, and the 51st State.” It began with the words, “These are strange days in Canada.” Little did I know—though I suppose I should have predicted—that they would only get stranger.
When Jesus’s disciples asked for instruction on prayer, he warned them of a common temptation—the temptation to think that prayer depends upon saying just the right words or a certain number of words. “When you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do,” he said, “for they think that they will be…
I don’t why we place more emphasis on some birthdays than others. Why is 16 more significant than 17? Why are multiples of 5 more significant than multiples of 4 or 6? I don’t who decides these things or on what basis, but I suppose 25 is significant because it marks a quarter of a…
If you spend any time on social media or any time socializing at a Christian conference, if you refresh your feed on YouTube or listen while people chat after church on a Sunday morning, you may soon learn what makes people happy. People love to talk about other people! And more often than not, they…
One of the most poignant of Jesus’s parables tells the story of a persistent widow. Having faced injustice at the hand of an adversary, this woman appealed to the local judge. She asked him to use his power and authority to right the wrong that had been done to her. But to her sorrow, she…
February is typically a solid month for book releases, and this February was no exception. As the month drew to its close, I sorted through the many (many!) books that came my way this month and arrived at this list of new and notables. In each case, I’ve provided the editorial description to give you…
Somewhere deep inside, each one of us longs for more. We want more money, more authority, more followers, more of whatever it is that we find especially desirable or especially validating. “Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied,” says the Sage, “and never satisfied are the eyes of man” (Proverbs 27:20). We live within a vicious…
I’m sure you’ve had the same kind of experience I’ve had—the experience of bumping into someone you haven’t seen for many years. Maybe it is at a conference, maybe at a wedding, or maybe through pure serendipity. Yet now you’re face to face and you realize that even while you’re enjoying a conversation with that…
Life inevitably faces us with grievous trials and terrible troubles. None of us remains unscathed and undamaged as we make our way through this fallen world. When trials come, they can loom up so large before us that they become the only thing we can see. And even if we find the strength to cry…